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SCUDDER'S MANTIS (Oligonicella scudderi)
MANTIDS (order Mantodea) are generalists predators that cannot be categories as helpful or harmful. The front legsare modiied into viselike apendages for grasping and holding prey, which is eaten alive/ At rest, the folded weapons give the mpression of a posture of prayer, hence "prayin mantis." Cannibalism of males by females is famous bu perhaps not the rule; it my often be artifact of aptive matings that leave the male no escape. Females lay eggs in a mass often on a vertical tig, with a foamlike material that hardens to prevent water loss.